5.22.2003 ET

(CSRwire) London & New York - FTSE Group, the independent global index company, today announces that Will Oulton will step down from his role as joint Deputy Chief Executive at FTSE Group to begin a freelance consulting business, focussing on socially responsible investment (SRI) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues. Will's close involvement in the FTSE4Good series will continue, as he assumes a new role as Strategic Adviser, SRI for the FTSE Group.

Will has worked closely on the development of the FTSE4Good Index Series since it launched in July 2001 and has played a leading role in the growth and the success of the series. Will has become a key industry figure in both SRI and CSR working closely with investors, NGOs, governments and companies.

Will's role at FTSE Group as Strategic Adviser, SRI will be to work with the FTSE4Good Advisory Committees and FTSE's in-house CSR team to ensure that FTSE4Good remains the foremost global socially responsible index series. Mark Makepeace, Chief Executive of FTSE Group said: "As part of this role he will continue to work closely with NGOs and the FTSE4Good Advisory Committees to strengthen and develop the FTSE4Good criteria. He will also continue his work with UNICEF, co-ordinating the work FTSE does with the charity through its contributed revenue from the FTSE4Good Index Series."

Tom Donaldson, Chairman of the FTSE4Good US Advisory Committee and a respected business ethics professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, said today: "The FTSE4Good Index Series has benefited from Will's skilful hands-on management and attention to detail, without which the index would not have developed into the credible investment tool it is today. The decision by Will to focus on this area will provide encouragement to similar senior figures from the business, investment and CSR industries to participate in the development of the FTSE4Good index and to the Advisory Committee process."


Notes to Editors

About FTSE

FTSE Group is a world-leader in the creation and management of indices. With offices in London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Madrid, Paris, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo, FTSE Group services clients in 77 countries worldwide. It manages and develops globally recognised indices ranging from the FTSE All-World Index to the FTSE 100, the FTSE4Good indices and the recently launched FTSE Global Style Index Series. The company has collaborative arrangements with the Athens, Cyprus, Euronext, Johannesburg, London, Luxembourg, and Madrid exchanges, as well as with Nikkei of Japan (Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc) and Xinhua Financial Network of China.

FTSE indices are used extensively by investors world-wide for investment analysis, performance measurement, asset allocation, portfolio hedging and for creating a wide range of index tracking funds. Independent committees of senior fund managers, derivatives experts, actuaries and other experienced practitioners review all changes to the indices to ensure that they are made objectively and without bias. Real-time FTSE indices are calculated on systems managed by Reuters. Prices and FX rates used are supplied by Reuters.

About FTSE4Good

FTSE4Good is an innovative series of real-time indices designed to reflect the performance of socially responsible equities. The series, created and managed by global index provider FTSE Group, covers four markets: UK, Europe, US and Global. Four tradable and four benchmark indices make up the FTSE4Good index series. A committee of independent practitioners in socially responsible investment, (SRI) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) review the indices to ensure that they are an accurate reflection of current CSR best practice.

FTSE Group contributes income including licence fees for FTSE4Good to UNICEF, the global children's charity.

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